JOSHUA 5:9-12

THE BACKGROUND

Moses led God’s people out of Egypt, across the desert wilderness, and to the Promised Land. But Moses did not cross the Jordan. He died in Moab near Mt. Pisgah, and was buried in a valley there.  Joshua was commissioned by God to take Moses’ place.  Although he was Moses’ successor, Joshua’s task was different.  Joshua was in charge of the conquest of Canaan, to claim the Promised Land for God’s chosen.  He sent spies to check out Jericho, the first city the planned to conquer. Then, they crossed the Jordan, officially entering the Promised Land, and set up camp.  The Israelite men, all of whom had been born along the journey, had not yet been circumcised.  This was a Jewish tradition since it was established by God during Abraham’s time. So the men were circumcised. 

THE DETAIL

• With the renewing of the covenant through circumcision, God makes a proclamation that He has removed the disgrace of their slavery in Egypt.  God, with Moses’ leadership, has delivered his people to the Promised Land.  A chapter is closing.  (v. 9)
• They then celebrated the Passover, using the produce of the land they have just entered.  (vv. 10-11)
• Since they were now “home”, and eating food from the Promised Land, the manna stopped coming. They no longer had need of it. (v. 12)

THE TAKEAWAY

The Israelites’ wandering in the wilderness has always been considered by them to be a sort of honeymoon in their relationship with God.  He rescued them from slavery, and provided for their needs along the way. God continues to care for us, His people.  He feeds us along our life-journey, and guides us along the pathway of our lives. All he asks in return is for our love.
 

2 CORINTHIANS 5:16-21

THE BACKGROUND

After Paul’s traditional opening lines, and mentioning a few details in chapters one and two, Paul lays out several chapters of rich thought on our lives as Christians. 

THE DETAIL

• This passage starts out by stating that “from now on” (now that we believe in Jesus), we must no longer look at life and at Jesus from a human point of view.  Paul’s going to tell us about the new perspective in verses 18-21.  (v. 16)
• We get this new perspective, because once we are “in Christ”, we become a new creation. Jesus’ presence in our lives changes everything.  (v. 17)
• The first words are key, so I will make them bold:  “All this is from God”…  What we’re about to study in great detail are God’s loving actions on us.  There is no mention of what we must do to earn this, because it is all a one-way gift. It is from God.  (v. 18a)
• The key word in the next verse and a half is reconciliation.  This word is mentioned four times in that short space!  I’ll explain that word in the takeaway below.  But the point here is that God the Father reconciled us to Himself using the gift of His son Jesus on the cross.  (vv. 18b-19)
• Paul states that he is God’s ambassador, and urges us to become reconciled to God.  (There is that word again!)  (v. 20)
• The final verse is a little convoluted.  It is difficult to understand, if you haven’t heard it before.  Allow me to paraphrase. 
  • For our sake (God did this for us!)
  • God had Jesus (“who knew no sin”) bear our sins (“He made him be sin”)
  • God did this for us so that we might be free of the burden of our sins, so that we can focus on doing those things that God wants us to do (“we might become the righteousness of God”)

THE TAKEAWAY

Reconciliation is a gigantic word, but I think you’ll quickly realize that you already know the meaning. If you have ever had a checking account, you know that you write checks and get bank statements.  Sometimes people haven’t cashed check that you’ve written when you receive your bank statement.  Other times, if you’re recording your checks and watching your balance, you might make an error in your arithmetic.  Either way, the bank statement rarely matches what you think is still in your checking account.  You go through a process of reconciling the bank statement.  You try to understand and justify the difference between their balance and what you think your balance is.

God has expectations of our behavior, but we rarely measure up to them.  Even though those expectations are achievable by us, we always seem to fall short.  How can we ever reconcile this shortfall between God’s expectations and our actions? 

WE CAN’T!!!

But the good news in today’s reading is that God has done it for us.  By the gift of His son on the cross, our sins are forgiven.  Our “account” is reconciled—not through our own actions, but solely by what God has done.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Verse 20 urges us to “be reconciled to God”.  How can we do something that God has already done?  We simply believe in Jesus, putting all our sins at the foot of his cross. Then, we strive to “become the righteousness of God” not to earn forgiveness, but to show our gratitude for what God has already done for us.
 

LUKE 15:1-3, 11b-32

THE BACKGROUND

This week’s Gospel lesson is one of Jesus’ most famous parables.  I learned long ago that all of Jesus’ parables were taught to prove one point. When we read a parable from Jesus, we should look for only one point.  Anything more is just a bunch of hot air.  That said, this extra-long parable may actually contain two points!  

THE DETAIL, Part One

• The first paragraph explains the motivation for Jesus’ telling of this parable.  The pious Pharisees and scribes (role models of faith to all around them) are criticizing Jesus for rubbing elbows with riff-raff and sinners, rather that hob-knobbing with the religious and social elite.  (vv. 1-3)
• The story goes that the younger of two sons asks his father for his share of his inheritance. The father complies, and the son promptly goes off and squanders it.  (vv. 11b-14)
• The son hires himself out to a farmer.  The farmer sends the man out to feed the pigs.  Pigs are unclean animals to a Jew, so this is about as low as this man could go. (v. 15)
• The wayward son comes to his senses, and decides to go home.  He is hoping to find better employment working for his father.  (vv. 16-20)
• Dad is sitting on the porch. (OK, it doesn’t really say this, but that’s how I picture the scene.) In the distance, he sees his younger son walking back home.  He is so overjoyed at the son’s repentance, he runs to greet him.  The father is thrilled.  He calls for a joyous celebration.  (vv. 21-24)

THE DETAIL, Part Two

• Enter, the elder son. He comes in from the field, hears the music and dancing.  He probably caught a whiff or two of the calf being grilled, too.  “What’s going on”, he asks?  He is told that the party is for his brother, who has returned home. He is not happy about this, and refuses to go in and celebrate.  (vv. 25-28a)
• The elder son points out all those years of faithful service, and the father never threw a party for him.  Yet, “this son of yours” comes home and gets the fatted calf, a ring, music, and a big party.  The elder son obviously has a bad attitude!  (vv. 28b-30)
• The father’s next words explain everything.  “But we had to celebrate…  This brother of yours... was lost and has been found.”   (vv. 31-32)

THE TAKEAWAY

Given the situation explained in verses 1-3, Jesus’ telling of this parable is to challenge the attitude of the Pharisees and scribes about Jesus’ actions.  He compares their attitude to that of the elder son. His point is clear:  Those of us who have been working for our Lord for many years should rejoice at the repentance of those who have fallen away. 

But the joy and forgiveness of the father in Part One is remarkable.  If there is a second point to this parable, it would be to show us the love and delight that God has for those who return to him.  If god is this happy over one who “was lost and has been found”, then so should we.  The past is forgiven!  Let’s celebrate!